Orochimaru's Advance
Land of Rain
Amegakure
Amidst the continuous drizzle, at the moat of Amegakure, a small yellow snake slowly swam ashore from the river. The snake's mouth was open at nearly 130 degrees, and an arm thicker than the snake's body emerged from its mouth.
Orochimaru successfully traversed the ninja strongholds surrounding the moat using his summoned snake and quietly infiltrated Amegakure.
"Amegakure, Pain... Hehehe..."
Orochimaru spent a lot of time investigating the recent chaos in the Land of Rain and Amegakure, and has learned a great deal of information about Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki.
Orochimaru made meticulous preparations for this infiltration.
"Transformation Technique!"
Bang!
Orochimaru transformed into the appearance of an Amegakure Genin he had captured before his arrival and calmly walked into the Amegakure.
At the central tower of Amegakure.
A man with Orange-haired Man turned his head and looked at the blue-haired woman behind him.
"What's wrong?"
In Amegakure, Konan accompanies Pain every Sunday during the routine Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
"A stranger has intruded into my rain; the feeling of Chakra is incredibly strong."
Pain noticed the intruder, a hint of doubt flashing across his Rinnegan. His thoughtful expression lingered for two seconds before turning cold again, and he said softly:
"This Chakra belongs to Orochimaru."
Orochimaru? What's he doing in Amegakure?
Konan was somewhat puzzled when she heard that Orochimaru had come to visit.
"Orochimaru has trespassed into Amegakure; he likely has ill intentions. Konan, go and drive him away."
"I see."
Konan replied softly, her whole body turning white as she transformed into countless paper butterflies that drifted away.
In the village
Orochimaru traveled along a secluded route, winding his way closer and closer to the central tower.
Orochimaru slowly walked into a somewhat enclosed alley. Countless paper butterflies flew into the alley and coalesced in mid-air to form a beautiful blue-haired woman.
Konan, with a pair of white wings spread on her back, hovered in the air, her face indifferent, gazing down at Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, the organization didn't seem to have instructed you to come to Amegakure. What brings you Amegakure?"
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru was somewhat surprised that his identity had been exposed. He then deactivated his Transformation Technique and reverted to his original form.
"Oh? What a failure, I didn't expect it to be discovered so quickly."
Orochimaru, seeing that his actions had been exposed, no longer concealed his purpose. His eyes gleamed with curiosity, and he sneered:
"I'm a rogue ninja who came to Amegakure to see if there was anything I liked. I never expected to meet you here, Konan."
"Amegakure is not a place for you. Leave, Orochimaru."
Konan looked down at Orochimaru, her voice cold, and issued the order to expel him.
Orochimaru spoke gently, chuckling softly:
"Konan, I haven't found what I like yet, I can't just leave like this."
The gentle smile appeared sinister and terrifying in Konan's eyes.
Konan that her words to expel Orochimaru had no effect, Konan fell silent and flapped her wings, Paper Shuriken hurtling towards Orochimaru below.
Seeing this, Chakra's Orochimaru surged, and he clapped his hands together before extending his right hand forward, aiming at the densely packed Paper Shuriken.
Wind Style: Gale Palm!
The C-rank Ninjutsu, Gale Palm, is a technique that involves compressing and releasing Wind Style. It is one of the basic Chakra Release Ninjutsu, but Orochimaru Gale Palm incredibly powerful, creating a scene of howling winds, much like a natural disaster.
Paper Shuriken are relatively light and similar to ninja tools, making them vulnerable to Wind Style.
However, Konan's Paper Shuriken were numerous and seemingly endless. After one wave was dispersed by the Gale Palm, a second and a third wave followed, densely packed and shooting continuously.
Orochimaru saw it clearly and understood that this Ninjutsu could not be easily broken. As Hand Seals, he dodged with a right somersault.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The Paper Shuriken pierced the ground, penetrating three-tenths of an inch, demonstrating its considerable power. Konan slightly shifted her body, adjusting the direction of the Paper Shuriken's trajectory, and continued to bombard Orochimaru beside her.
"The Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
Orochimaru opened his mouth wide, like a snake opening its jaws, stretching it over a terrifying 100 degrees. His mouth resembled a snake's lair, from which countless pythons swarmed out, their numbers exceeding even those of Konan's Paper Shuriken.
The python collided with the Paper Shuriken and was stabbed to a bloody pulp. After the pythons in the front row were shot dead, the pythons in the back row opened their mouths and spat out blades.
The number of pythons far exceeded that of the Paper Shuriken. Some pythons directly Shuriken- on, while many more pythons surrounded and swept towards Konan from above, below, left, and right.
Moo!
A gigantic bull suddenly burst forth from the wall behind Konan, passing through the paper Konan had transformed into, and charged directly at the countless pythons.
Orochimaru's swarm of snakes looked like caterpillars compared to the bull's size, getting smashed into a mess and unable to cause any damage to such a behemoth.
"Summoning Technique: Rashomon!"
Just as Orochimaru was about to be hit, he bent down and slammed his fist on the ground, and a huge iron gate rose up from the ground.
Boom!
The giant bull crashed into Rashomon with a deafening roar, breaking off one of its Kakuzu. However, the bull did not cry out in pain; instead, it slowly retreated, seemingly preparing to try again.
Orochimaru jumped onto Rashomon and looked at the orange-haired man standing horizontally on the steel building behind Konan.
"This is...? Pain? No...?"
This orange-haired man was different from the ones Orochimaru had seen before.
"Is this one of those three little guys? How come he has two pairs of Rinnegan..."
Orochimaru felt that his investigation was not thorough enough, but since he had already come, he could not simply retreat.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Technique!"
Orochimaru Hand Seals, completing the five Summoning Technique seals in an instant, and a giant three-headed python appeared Rashomon.
The three-headed python hissed three times and quickly coiled itself around the giant bull.
The bull was two sizes smaller than the three-headed python and was tightly bound by it.
The three-headed serpent's other two heads, with their mouths wide open, were biting the bull's two hind thighs and hindquarters.
Moo!
The bull roared loudly and began to leap and bound, trying to shake off the giant snake on its body.
Orochimaru
The orange-haired man walked along the wall, calmly watching the scene unfold, and softly called out to Orochimaru.
"Chief, I just wanted to see if there was anything here that interested me..."
When Orochimaru heard Pain his name, he licked his lips and quietly explained his purpose.
The orange-haired Pain's eyes rippled slightly as he said coldly:
"This is God's territory, leave this place."
"I'm an atheist, hehe..."
Orochimaru remained unmoved, a sinister smile playing on his lips.
Land of Lightning
Kumogakure
In the large arena of Kumogakure, on a high platform, the Fourth Raikage A and the Fourth Hokage Uchiha Nara on grand chairs, each with two guards standing behind them, looking down at the Genin matches in the arena.
Not only was Naraku uninterested in the first few subjects of the Chunin Ninja Exams, but even the Raikage who organized them wasn't very concerned.
The final Genin match in the Chunin Ninja Exams is the real highlight. Aside from the Chunin, the ticket revenue from the arena is the primary source of income for the Chunin Ninja Exams.
"Has Yakushi Kabuto finally made his appearance?"
Naraku saw that the Konoha Genin entering below was none other than Yakushi Kabuto Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi was already a captain in the Anbu, while Yakushi Kabuto was just coasting along, still Genin Konoha. This time, Yakushi Kabuto was chosen by Naraku to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams Kumogakure.